Far Away
by SereneCalamity
Summary: Jackson betrays Melissa. But he knows he has to win her back. JacksonMelissa. OneShot. SongFic.


_This is my first _Flight 29 Down _fanfic. I hope you guys all like it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the song, only the plot._

Melissa Wu tucked a strand of hair behind her eyes and blinked as she stared at the ocean. The sun was dipping lower and lower in the sky, and casting a golden-yellow glow over the ocean and its rolling waves. Melissa let out a sigh and blinked away the tears which rushed to her eyes at the same time. Watching the ocean over the past few weeks always seemed to calm her, and unfortunately, bring out her other emotions. The ocean was so steady, so steady and reliable….like Cody Jackson….

Melissa shook her head angrily and tried not to remember what happened. She didn't like Jackson anymore; she tried to force herself to think like that, to believe that. But she couldn't…she liked everything about him. She loved the way his eyes seemed so deep and trusting when he looked at her. She loved the way he was quiet, and yet still assumed control. He was so different from the other guys at school……

Melissa once again shook her head. She had _thought _he was different from the other guys at school. He turned out to be exactly the same. She was still having difficulty comprehending that he _liked Taylor. _She had thought he was different, that he didn't go for your typical ditsy blonde that all the other guys go for.

Oh well, she was wrong.

_This time, this place  
Misused, mistakes  
Too long, too late  
Who was I to make you wait?  
Just one chance  
Just one breath  
Just in case there's just one left  
'Cause you know, you know, you know_

Jackson couldn't believe what he had done. He groaned as he remembered how stupid he had been. He didn't even like Taylor Hagan—he had no idea why he had gone and kissed her! To make matters worse, she had kissed back. And then Melissa had walked by….the hurt on her face had pulled Jackson back into reality quickly and he had pulled away from Taylor straight away.

And then Eric McGorrill had found out….Jackson still had bruises to prove that. They weren't particularly dark, but they were definitely there. Jackson couldn't blame Eric for being so mad, he had clearly marked Taylor as his girl. Taylor had seemed okay with that, as well, so Jackson was still confused about her kissing back….maybe she was more like him that he realized…..just as confused.

Nathan McHugh was always acting cold toward Jackson and Taylor, same with Daley Marin and her kid brother, Lex Marin. In a way, Lex was that worse. He was the youngest out of all of them, and in a way, the one Jackson liked the most. He was factual and spunky, and Jackson liked that. For a while, Lex had seemed to really respect Jackson, but now things were different.

Jackson knew he had to fix things. But he didn't know how to.

_I love you  
I've loved you all along  
I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
And you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore_

Jackson got out of his sleeping bag the next morning, trying not to wake the other guys. He pulled a jersey over his tee-shirt and crawled out of the tent, onto the grass outside. He walked away from their campsite and onto the beach, where he sat underneath a tree and stared out at the ocean. After a few minutes, he heard the crunching of leaves behind him, and turned to see Lex walking toward him.

"Oh, so you're talkin' to me now?" He asked. Lex gave him a dirty look which obviously told him to keep all sarcastic comments inside his mouth, or else Lex would be turning around and walking off. "Okay, sorry," Jackson mumbled and looked away. Lex sighed and sat down on the log beside him. "So…why _are _you talkin' to me?"

"Well…I don't think you did what you did to hurt Melissa," Lex began. "I mean…I don't know what you were thinking or why you did it, and I don't want to know either. I'm just, like…not into that," Lex gave a bit of a shiver and Jackson couldn't help but smile slightly at the younger kid. "But what I _do _know, is that you really like Melissa, and so do I—as a friend, I mean—" he hurriedly added. "And so I'm gonna help you make it up to her."

"I don't know, dude," Jackson mumbled. "I messed up pretty badly, and I mean…girls are seriously complex. They're really emotional, and they never react the way you think they're gonna." Lex nodded.

"Tell me about it. I live with Daley," Lex muttered. Jackson couldn't help it. This time he let out a laugh. Lex looked pleased with himself. "Look, Jackson, I know that Eric really wants to get together with Taylor, so if we come up with something, we can figure out how to get them back together as well." Jackson thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Any ideas?" He asked.

"Actually, yeah," Lex murmured.

_On my knees, I'll ask  
Last chance for one last dance  
'Cause with you, I'd withstand  
All of Hell to hold your hand  
I'd give it all  
I'd give for us  
Give anything, but I won't give up  
'Cause you know, you know, you know_

Melissa was sitting by the fire, watching the water boil. Every now and then she poked the fire with a long stick she had been resting on the sand. Taylor was standing a little way off, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Melissa didn't realize she was being watched. She was wearing only her bra, acting as though it was a bikini. The sun was so hot and beat down on them, forcing the boys to remove their shirts and the girls to strip to as little as possible.

"Hey," Taylor finally said. Melissa jumped slightly and turned around to survey the blonde with more than a little bit of contempt. "Look, I know you don't really want to talk to me," Taylor said as she walked over and sat down beside Melissa. Melissa shifted over slightly and kept her eyes on the fire. "I want you to know Jackson didn't mean…to kiss me back. He just…." Taylor bit her lower lip. "Got, uh, captured? Captured in the moment? Uh…" Taylor groaned, searching for the word.

"Caught?" Melissa muttered.

"Yes!" Taylor's blonde hair jumped as she grinned. "I knew you'd understand!" Melissa turned her glowering eyes toward Taylor, and the blonde immediately froze, the smile disappearing in an instant.

"Who said I understood anything?" She asked in a tight voice. Taylor hadn't seen Melissa so angry before. Not even when Taylor had told everyone that she liked Jackson. It was always Daley or Nathan that got mad, or occasionally Taylor. The others got mad at times, but they always calmed down after a bit. Taylor didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. Melissa didn't say anything else, either, and she turned back to the fire, the flames jumping and dancing.

Finally, Taylor got up and walked away

_That I love you  
I loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
And you'd never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore_

Eric was a lot of easier to talk to. He was angry at first, when Jackson started talking, but then he started to calm down. Jackson told him they had made a mistake, and they were barely even friends, that they weren't planning on kissing anymore. Jackson finished by saying,

"So, dude, she's all yours." Eric finally grinned and him and Jackson slapped palms, everything between them settled. "I just gotta figure out if Melissa's forgiven me…" Jackson trailed off as Eric shook his head and looked over to where the fire was smoldering with no-one to attend to it. "What?" Jackson asked in confusion.

"If Taylor was apologizing and explaining before….dude, Melissa stormed off in the opposite direction….she, uh," Eric ran hand through his messy blonde hair and shrugged. "She didn't look to, um, happy…." Jackson groaned and licked his lips quickly as he stood up and raised his eyebrows at Taylor who was walking over.

"She walked away," Taylor stated in a very Taylor-way. She then turned to Eric, who gave her an easy smile. She squealed and jumped into his arms as he stood up. They hugged and then started making out. Jackson rolled his eyes and turned away, trying not to listen to them.

_So far away  
So far away  
Far away for far too long  
So far away  
So far away  
Far away for far too long_

Melissa had walked to the other end of the beach, far down to the end where the rocks were jagged and beaten by the waves. Jackson had asked Eric which direction she had gone and then headed off in that direction. It had led him straight to her.

She was sitting alone, on the top of one of the larger rocks which was just by the ocean. Her legs dangled down the flat surface of the rocks and her bare-feet were being touched by the frothing waves. Jackson chewed nervously on his lower lip as he got closer and stopped, digging his toes into the wet sand and trying to think of what to say.

Melissa had let her long hair out of its usual hair-tie and it was splayed out down her back, nearly reaching her waist. When she moved her head further to the left, her hair swayed with her. Jackson started making his way of the rough-edged rocks to where she was sitting, hoping to reach her without her noticing he was there.

"Hey, Mel," he started softly as he reached the rock she was on. She gave him a glare and then went back to looking out over the ocean. "Look, can you just listen to me for a sec?" She didn't reply. "It…it would be a lot easier if you spoke…"

"What do you want me to say?!" She asked hotly. "How did it feel to have Taylor's tongue in your mouth?!" Jackson scowled at her.

"We didn't do that! It stopped when you arrived! It was never meant to happen! I don't even _like _Taylor, I can barely stand her, you know that!" Jackson told her. Melissa frowned at him and shook her head, looking back at the ocean.

"I know I don't go around pashing guys _I _don't like and can barely stand!" She shouted.

"That's good, or else there'd be a lot of guys around with black eyes," Jackson mumbled and looked away. Melissa stopped for a moment as she comprehended what he had just said. His cheeks were a fiery red as she surveyed him.

_But you know, you know, you know  
I wanted  
I wanted you to stay  
'Cause I needed  
I need to hear you say_

"What?" She asked with a confused frown. Jackson went a deeper scarlet. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Jackson muttered, keeping his eyes trained in the other direction. "I'd hurt any other guy you kissed if I knew you were only doing it to make me jealous." Suddenly, he realized he had said too much. Melissa frowned and then blinked in realization.

"You did it to make me jealous?" She asked incredulously. Jackson blushed again. "But…why? You already know I like you." Jackson still liked hearing those words coming from her mouth, even though he still knew them deep down, he still liked hearing them from her.

"I don't know…I shouldn't having told you that we should wait until home…" Jackson muttered. "I know Eric and Taylor aren't, and I'm pretty sure Daley and Nathan are gonna announce they're on soon…I shouldn't have said that…" Jackson drifted off. When he raised his head, her head was right there, and her eyes bored deep into his.

_I love you  
I loved you all along  
And I forgive you  
For being away for far too long  
So keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me, and never let me go  
Keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me, never let me go  
Keep breathing  
Hold on to me, never let me go_

"I love you, Mel," Jackson murmured. Melissa blinked in shock, and then her mouth smiled, along with her eyes. Without any hesitation, Jackson leaned forward and kissed her. Melissa, once again, was shocked, but then her eyes closed and she melted into the kiss. As they separated for air, she murmured,

"I love you too."

_Hope you guys liked it, it's a bit different from my other stories._

_Please review._


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